480 DB Owners Club

[Ranger Mike]

Mike,
You would need to purchase a Maretron TMP100, two EGT probes, assorted NMEA cables/tees and a Maretron display (needed to set up the TMP100). I chose a Maretron DSM410 as my display that also replaced my depth sounder as it will display most any data on the NMEA 2000 network. Mine also scrolls engine data through Yachtdevice gateways. You can purchase probes from Maretron for ~$130 each or Amazon for ~$30 each... All in you will have around $800-900 in the project.

Instead, you may want to look into this Yachtdevices NMEA EGT sensor for around $300 total. I have no experience with them but am happy with my other Yachtdevices products and their support.

https://yachtdevicesus.com/products/exhaust-gas-sensor-ydgs-01?_pos=1&_sid=0f2101e14&_ss=r

The probes are installed just after the turbo in the threaded hole in the DeAngelo exhaust elbows. There will be a pipe plug in them now that you need to remove.

Thanks QT. I think I might just go with the Yacht devices probes and save a few bucks. If I can get the EGT data thru the NMEA 2000 to the Garmin, I will be happy with that. Thanks for your help.

Mike

 

[MichaelsDream]

Finally Joined the site after lurking for many years. Here is my 2001 48 Sedan Bridge with my sons Mastercraft. We have had this boat since 2002. Been a really good boat to our family

 

[MichaelsDream]

If any 48 SD owner needs a spare set of props for a CAT C12/3196, let me know I have an ad in for sale section.

http://www.clubsearay.com/index.php?threads/cat-c12-3196-spare-props.98522/

 

[The crime scene]

View attachment 86290 Finally Joined the site after lurking for many years. Here is my 2001 48 Sedan Bridge with my sons Mastercraft. We have had this boat since 2002. Been a really good boat to our family

She's a beauty. I have the same boat and love it.

Keith

 

[dcpringle]

View attachment 86290 Finally Joined the site after lurking for many years. Here is my 2001 48 Sedan Bridge with my sons Mastercraft. We have had this boat since 2002. Been a really good boat to our family

Congrats and welcome to the site..

 

[CdP]

Hi guys

I'm looking at a Sea Ray 480 Sedan Bridge. Overall it surveyed well, with the glaring exception of long neglected maintenance on the engines. So now we're negotiating whether both engines get rebuilt and get the 1000 hr service and how much I pay for some portion of that. The surveyor is also a repair shop and have quoted a ROUGH estimate of roughly 70-75K for rebuilding, anything else included in 1000hr service, turbos, and aftercoolers. The seller is checking out different pricing, and I plan to do the same. Despite the engine surveyor seeming to be very honest and ethical, checking their math seems to make a lot of sense!

I would love any advice on the situation. This is my first diesel boat (other than low HP sailboats). Here's what I'm most worried about:

1) If we agree on this, what are the unforeseen surprises I might uncover as we get into this? I.e., commit to rebuild, and while we're in there, really should replace the <insert $3K widget name here>. Presumably alternators fit under this?
2) How tough is it to pull up the salon rugs? The mechanic said they don't do that work and that has me slightly nervous; 'why is this so hard that the mechanic insists i have it done first?' I'm through the first ~55 pages of this thread and have seen some comments suggesting it's not too hard, but curious if there are any updated opinions?
3) The bridge AC blows... literally! Doesn't make the air warmer or colder, but the fan works. Anyone have a rough sense of what this typically means? I'd assume a compressor swap would probably fix this?
4) The laminate on the original cabinetry in salon / galley is cracking a bit in a few places. I assume there is no fix to that, other than replacement? Has anyone encountered that before and found a less invasive fix?

What other advice might you have for a (hopefully) soon-to-be-new-owner of a 480DB?

Thanks all! Looking forward to chatting more over the years and hopefully crossing paths up here in the northeast

Craig

 

[quality time]

How many hours are on this boat? I'm afraid that if the owner was neglectful enough on engine maintenance to require rebuilds then what else will fail shortly after purchase? Generator, A/C units, refrigerator/freezer etc... are all multi thousand dollar items on a boat like this. Unless this was an extremely great deal it would be a hard pass for me if this was my first large diesel purchase.

And to answer your question, the carpet, floors and couch are not hard to remove just time consuming.

 

[CdP]

How many hours are on this boat? I'm afraid that if the owner was neglectful enough on engine maintenance to require rebuilds then what else will fail shortly after purchase? Generator, A/C units, refrigerator/freezer etc... are all multi thousand dollar items on a boat like this. Unless this was an extremely great deal it would be a hard pass for me if this was my first large diesel purchase.

And to answer your question, the carpet, floors and couch are not hard to remove just time consuming.

Thanks! You're right and on the cusp of what I'm concerned about....

1700 hrs. Owner bought it ~2 yrs ago around 1500/1600 hours as one of four in his personal fleet. Prior to him, the PO put in substantial upgrades in electronics but had clearly neglected the engines.

Generator was replaced with Onan, has ~400 hours. Seems to run great, oil analysis will come back tomorrow or Thursday.

ACs inside work great. Super anal surveyor crawled all around, should be ok, but not sure how else to know. Hull sounded out strong, slightly elevated deck moisture but none found in sides or bottom.

I think there is decent value to me in completing the deal and knowing my engines should be in very good shape for many years to come. But maybe it's time to go back to the drawing board.... Tough call!

 

[techmitch]

Why is he recommending that the engines be "rebuilt"? 1700 hrs is not that many for those engines.

 

[steve4566]

Hi Craig,

I purchased my 2001 480DB with CAT 3196 engines in 2009. I have 1,450 hours on my CATs and 2,840 hours on my Westerbeke generator. I love my boat and the CATs. I take very good care of the CATs and the boat—a very expensive proposition.

Here is a list of the significant work I’ve done these past 11 years:

CAT 3196 Engines:
· New raw water hoses.
· New Fuel hoses
· New Coolant hoses
· One new coolant pump
· One new raw water pump
· Replaced two cracked valve covers
· Replaced failed CAT EMS 24 volt power supply
· Replaced failed CAT EMS display
· New batteries (multiple times)
· Rebuilt one alternator
A couple of years ago, CAT published a new aftercooler preventive maintenance schedule which specifies clean/inspect the aftercoolers every 1000 hours/two years and replace the aftercoolers every six years regardless of hours. Ensure that your rebuild includes new aftercoolers.

Auxiliaries:
· Replaced both GHS swim platform hydraulic rams
· Replaced external GHS swim platform hydraulic hoses (multiple times)
· Replaced one potable water pump
· Replaced both the bow thruster and the engine battery chargers
· Replaced the suction hoses for the a/c raw water pump and the baitwell pump as well as the sewage overboard discharge hose.
· Rebuilt the steering ram.
· One rebuilt vacuflush pump assembly and, of course, duckbill valves on both systems multiple times
· Replaced one head vent fan and both engine room blower fans (not expensive but not easy)
· New master stateroom A/C unit
· Replaced two SMX II a/c control units
· New hot water heater
· New bridge refrigerator
· New ice maker in the subzero salon freezer
Make sure your surveyor verified that your engine room halon certification was not expired.

Generator: Yours is almost new Onan, so I won't list my Westerbeke work, but suffice it to say that I've become an expert at troubleshooting the Westerbeke 12 volt control circuit.

I can look up the $$$ I spent on individual items if you let me know which you’re concerned with.

One of our fellow 480DB owners was kind enough to post the attached procedure for how to take up the salon deck.

My 2001 was one of the last 480DBs to have a balsa core in the transom. The transom has lots of penetrations so it is very susceptible to leaks and wet/rotted balsa. Your boat is older than mine, so it has a balsa transom. Sea Ray had an installation problem with some of the 480DB engine room intakes causing rain water leaks into the balsa core in the hull beneath the intakes. Either of those problems quickly runs to tens of thousands of dollars.

My salon cabinets have de-laminated in one corner. I think this is pretty common, but I don’t know of any fixes.

I don’t know whether my experience as listed above is typical. My boat is 20 years old now, I'm offshore frequently, and I've made several trips to the Bahamas, so I strictly adhere to the preventive maintenance schedules.

Best of luck,

Steve

 

[CdP]

Thanks Steve! Yes, this boat certainly has an extra "t" in it (BOATT) but boy are they beauties! All the hoses look good according to surveyors. But I will need to also:

• Fix bridge AC (blows air, neither heats nor cools though)
• Get the autopilot to talk to the new Furuno MFDs. it will hold a course but will not program.
• Get one of the several transducers to report depth back to the MFDs.
• And then i want to install either a shakespeare halo booster for cell or a different MiMO wifi/cell boost set-up.

Trying not to fall in love with "this" boat when im in love with this TYPE of boat... im sure none of you can understand!

 

[CdP]

Why is he recommending that the engines be "rebuilt"? 1700 hrs is not that many for those engines.

Oil dipstick flying out due to pressure and oil splashing out, oil leaking from bell housing, heat exchangers leaking, aftercoolers leaking at pipes, fault codes galore on the ECMs.

I don't know if that justifies a rebuild or not... but glad to hear why/why not? Truly I am!

 

[techmitch]

Oil dipstick flying out due to pressure and oil splashing out, oil leaking from bell housing, heat exchangers leaking, aftercoolers leaking at pipes, fault codes galore on the ECMs.

I don't know if that justifies a rebuild or not... but glad to hear why/why not? Truly I am!

Hopefully our resident Cat/Sea Ray expert Mr. Webster will chime in soon. Guess it may be a good idea to sponsor the site which will gain you access to the Ask The Captains forum where you should post a link to this thread also.

PS welcome aboard and good luck in your search.

 

[CdP]

Hopefully our resident Cat/Sea Ray expert Mr. Webster will chime in soon. Guess it may be a good idea to sponsor the site which will gain you access to the Ask The Captains forum where you should post a link to this thread also.

PS welcome aboard and good luck in your search.

Done! Thanks for the reminder. I did with BoatDiesel and thought I did here, but clearly did not! But i hope all of the posters in this thread get a cut because it's why I'm here!!

 

[techmitch]

No cut's here/CSR. Just helping Boaters.

 

[CdP]

No cut's here/CSR. Just helping Boaters.

Oh I know - that's been evident in this thread!

 

[dcpringle]

Thanks Steve! Yes, this boat certainly has an extra "t" in it (BOATT) but boy are they beauties! All the hoses look good according to surveyors. But I will need to also:

• Fix bridge AC (blows air, neither heats nor cools though)
• Get the autopilot to talk to the new Furuno MFDs. it will hold a course but will not program.
• Get one of the several transducers to report depth back to the MFDs.
• And then i want to install either a shakespeare halo booster for cell or a different MiMO wifi/cell boost set-up.

Trying not to fall in love with "this" boat when im in love with this TYPE of boat... im sure none of you can understand!

Since others have already answered some of your earlier questions I'll answer the one about the bridge air. If it's a split system, then it's more than likely a R22 system. I had to replace my compressor recently and was fortunately that i have some good connections. I was able to take the legacy unit out of the engine room and locate a new R22 compressor for he unit. Replaced the compressor and then evacuated and recharged the entire system. Final cost to me was about $150 and a bottle of booze... easily could have been 5-7k instead... Before going to replace the compressor, be sure that its trying to start. You should hear a click in the engine room and the water should begin flowing etc... if no click/water, be sure you are getting power to the compressor unit and maybe swap the controller for another one on the boat to rule out the controller.. they are pretty easy to swap, and i have 3 others inside the boat that i could use for troubleshooting... Any faults showing?

For the autopilot, you are probably missing the NEMA connections from the MDF to the Autopilot...

 

[CdP]

Since others have already answered some of your earlier questions I'll answer the one about the bridge air. If it's a split system, then it's more than likely a R22 system. I had to replace my compressor recently and was fortunately that i have some good connections. I was able to take the legacy unit out of the engine room and locate a new R22 compressor for he unit. Replaced the compressor and then evacuated and recharged the entire system. Final cost to me was about $150 and a bottle of booze... easily could have been 5-7k instead... Before going to replace the compressor, be sure that its trying to start. You should hear a click in the engine room and the water should begin flowing etc... if no click/water, be sure you are getting power to the compressor unit and maybe swap the controller for another one on the boat to rule out the controller.. they are pretty easy to swap, and i have 3 others inside the boat that i could use for troubleshooting... Any faults showing?

For the autopilot, you are probably missing the NEMA connections from the MDF to the Autopilot...

Thanks! Yes, I need to get some rough estimates going on those other things so that we can come to terms on next steps if possible. That's very helpful advice DC!

To be clear, the legacy unit in the engine room was for the bridge? Or was that an older one that had served a different area that you had previously upgraded from? Not sure on faults question.... waiting on final surveyor report!

 

[The crime scene]

Hi guys

I'm looking at a Sea Ray 480 Sedan Bridge. Overall it surveyed well, with the glaring exception of long neglected maintenance on the engines. So now we're negotiating whether both engines get rebuilt and get the 1000 hr service and how much I pay for some portion of that. The surveyor is also a repair shop and have quoted a ROUGH estimate of roughly 70-75K for rebuilding, anything else included in 1000hr service, turbos, and aftercoolers. The seller is checking out different pricing, and I plan to do the same. Despite the engine surveyor seeming to be very honest and ethical, checking their math seems to make a lot of sense!

I would love any advice on the situation. This is my first diesel boat (other than low HP sailboats). Here's what I'm most worried about:

1) If we agree on this, what are the unforeseen surprises I might uncover as we get into this? I.e., commit to rebuild, and while we're in there, really should replace the <insert $3K widget name here>. Presumably alternators fit under this?
2) How tough is it to pull up the salon rugs? The mechanic said they don't do that work and that has me slightly nervous; 'why is this so hard that the mechanic insists i have it done first?' I'm through the first ~55 pages of this thread and have seen some comments suggesting it's not too hard, but curious if there are any updated opinions?
3) The bridge AC blows... literally! Doesn't make the air warmer or colder, but the fan works. Anyone have a rough sense of what this typically means? I'd assume a compressor swap would probably fix this?
4) The laminate on the original cabinetry in salon / galley is cracking a bit in a few places. I assume there is no fix to that, other than replacement? Has anyone encountered that before and found a less invasive fix?

What other advice might you have for a (hopefully) soon-to-be-new-owner of a 480DB?

Thanks all! Looking forward to chatting more over the years and hopefully crossing paths up here in the northeast

Craig

I am going to go with a different response to this boat.....run. There are other boats out there that have been maintained and are in good running order. The only way I would touch this boat is if the price is so decent that you cannot say no, which sounds like the case here. Neglected maintenance is everywhere on this 480. I am sure that everyone will agree that maintenance never stops and the PO stopped.

I will say that Cats are tough engines and may only need serviced and parts replaced that are failing, which will probably clean up the codes that you are seeing. Frank will be able to tell you what you are looking at in terms of money and direction to go. Good luck on this one and keep us posted.

I have opened up the floor to gain access to engines. I can help you along with that when the times comes. It is some work, but not bad once you figure it out. The toughest part is getting the wall panel behind the couch off since the screws where put in the wrong side of the bracket when you try to remove it. You will see what I am talking about when you do it.

Keith

 

[dcpringle]

Thanks! Yes, I need to get some rough estimates going on those other things so that we can come to terms on next steps if possible. That's very helpful advice DC!

To be clear, the legacy unit in the engine room was for the bridge? Or was that an older one that had served a different area that you had previously upgraded from? Not sure on faults question.... waiting on final surveyor report!

The one in the engine room should be the bridge if you have a split system which came from the factory..